The Effects Of Ronald Reagan On The Cold War

In President Reagan’s speech regarding the Berlin wall entitled “Address at Brandenburg Gate” delivered on June 12th, 1987, Reagan takes the position as the rhetor with the sole purpose of convincing the city of Berlin to unite and get rid of the wall separating the city in two. The wall is described by Reagan multiple times and is described to be both a physical and non-physical wall. Most of the city is separated by the physical wall and those that aren’t are heavily guarded and prevent travel to the other side. The discourse was intended to not only be heard by the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, but by most of Europe and North America. The exigency in Reagan’s

and its allies and the group of nations led by the Soviet Union. Direct military

The biggest contributing factor which played a part in ending the Cold War was the internal unrest of the Soviet Union. Also the ever changing system we know now as International Relations had a role in the conclusion of this time period. I will additionally argue the antithesis of the question and explain how Ronald Reagan prolonged the Cold War.

The United States during the mid to late 70’s was in a constant state of alert; millions of citizens waiting for the piercing sounds of the air raid sirens to slice through the night air. America was in need of a leader, someone who could unify a divided country and save it from crushing economic failure. One man saw his need and stood up to the task, his name is President Ronald Reagan. Reagan rose to power as President during one of the most critical periods in not only American history, but also, World history: The arms standoff of the cold war. His actions as a unifier in the homeland and as a diplomat in foreign halls changed the way Americans and citizens of the world lived their lives.

After World War II, Soviet Union expansionism in Eastern Europe fueled America’s fears of Russia controlling the world. The United States had been aware of Soviet communism and became concerned about the safety of the country. From then on, the USSR and the United States competed in an arms race, starting with military buildups. This became known as the Cold War and was an international power struggle for both nations. For about forty-five years, the Cold War between the United States of America and the Soviet Union took place. During this conflict, the two nations never directly confronted each other on the battlefield, but deadly threats were traded for years. The president at the time, Ronald Reagan, used U.S. policy and diplomacy to attempt

Ronald Reagan served from January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989 as President of the United States he is remembered as one of the best Presidents that the United States has ever had, He is vastly recognized because he served as president at the end of the Cold War, he was known as the president that “ended it”(the cold war). Though, the question remains in how? How was Reagan able to accomplish the ending of something that had lasted so long (the Cold war)? Thus was a task only accomplished by him because; he had a strong perseverance, intellectuality and held a strong desire for the destruction of all nuclear weapons. All of these elements combined took him to the decision and policy’s implemented during his terms as president. Reagan Started by taking a “Defense Policy” and his creation of SDI (The Strategic Defense Initiative) was all a part of a plan to disregard the MDA (Mutual Assured Destruction). Reagan came to these plans in despair to prevent any future nuclear wars with the SU (Soviet Union), “According to Weinberger, the idea that one was safe from nuclear attack only if vulnerable to it ‘repelled’ Reagan. Meese told the author that Reagan felt that MAD was politically and diplomatically, militarily, and morally flawed.’ ”( Steinberg, 39). Whit that being said Weinberger lets us know how Reagan felt about MAD.

Americans view the president as the highest member of society and Reagan was no exception. He was a poster child of class and the American values of the time. “The president and Mrs. Reagan pose [sic] in the Red Room of the White House before attending a series of nine inaugural balls in a dinner jacket (Cohen 83).” His elite parties and classy suits exemplified the values in the core American values of the time. The presidency gave him a pass from many of the terrors that kept Americans now up at night. Although, this did not excuse him from having personal enemies who would favor his demise. Only sixty-nine days after Reagan took office a would-be assassin shot him, but quickly recovered and returned to duty (Freidel). His near-death experience gave him new strength and a new will to uphold and protect the values of America.

In the year 1981, the American, anti-communist Ronald Reagan became president of the United States (Doc 70, pg.426). During the first term of his presidency, Reagan expressed a great sense of danger and threat that was deeply embedded in his general convictions regarding the nature of communism, particularly, in the Soviet Union (Renshon and Larson, pg.15). However, Reagan eventually began to express alternative views in his second term of presidency. He significantly altered his perception of the Soviet threat and accepted the idea of possibly working together with the Soviet Union towards achieving peace (Doc 70, pg.427). This transformation is reflected though Reagan’s initial hatred towards the USSR, to his cooperation with Gorbachev at the Geneva Summit, their great attempts to negotiate at the Reykjavik Summit and finally their signing of the INF treaty. Ronald Reagan transformed from an essentialist who viewed the Soviet Union as “evil” and ruled by an ideology seeking world communism and absolute power, to an interactionist who viewed the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union in terms of mutual misinterpretation (Renshon and Larson, pg. 20). This change ultimately caused Soviet-American relations to significantly strengthen throughout the 1980’s as U.S President Reagan cooperatively worked together with USSR General Gorbachev, a leader who shared in the same goal of achieving a peaceful, non-nuclear world.

A: The study of geopolitics adds environmental contexts, locational considerations, spatial assumptions, and territorial ideas and arrangements to political science. Also, geopolitics helps people understand the spatial power arrangements that form international relations.

Beschloss, M. R., & Talbott, S. (1993). The inside story of the end of the Cold War: At the highest levels. Canada: Little, Brown and Company.

During the cold war era, President Reagan’s strong anti-Soviet feelings and rhetorical “attack” style was an approach that his own administration saw as extreme and even dangerous (Rowland, p 23). And unlike many American leaders before him, who avoided the strained relations between the United States and Soviet Union, President Reagan set out to exploit and end communist tyranny. President Reagan’s devotion to ending tyranny was stronger than any other leader during the time period. For example, he criticized the Carter administration for their failure to deal with "the adventurousness of the Soviet Union" (Fisher, p 303). He believed that their foreign policy enabled the Soviet Union to view the United States in a weak and vulnerable state. President Reagan 's staunch opposition to communism and his willingness to confront the Soviet Union during a time when it was not popular, played a key role in the failure of the Soviet Union. Aiding him in his lone stand against tyranny was his rhetoric style of "ideological and moral clarity." A rhetoric style that he utilized to demonstrate a strong moral position towards the Soviet Union, while reducing the risk of conflict. In doing so he was able to set the stage for successful negotiation between the two nations (Rowland, p 24). This essay will examine Ronald Reagan 's June 12, 1987, address at the Brandenburg Gate. Mainly, the rhetoric style of "ideological and moral clarity", he utilized to exploit the Soviet Union, while

President Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States of America during the Cold War, which was a political and military tension between United States of America and Soviet Union in the second half of the twentieth century. Even though the conflict was not fighting directly between those two sides, it affected plenty of countries around the world and was a cause of the Vietnam and Korean war. During the Cold War, the Western and Eastern Block were divided by a border which did not divide in a half just whole Germany, but also its own capital, Berlin. Berlin was divided by a wall that was known as the Berlin Wall, a wall that was longer than 96 miles and was a reason of death of 139 people. This essay is about a speech that President

In the minds of many Americans Ronald Reagan is the president that ended the Cold War, but is this view accurate? They claim Reagan's unprecedented military spending forced the Soviets to crumble. However, many critics of the president's outspending theory claim that the Russian economy would have imploded without such spending, and a military buildup of that kind did nothing but delay peace. Although, Reagan's willingness to negotiate was a clear factor in ending the Cold War, his aggressive arms race may have done more to forestall peace than abet it. The ascendance of Mikhail Gorbachev to power, the stagnating economy of Russia, and the personal friendship forged between Gorbachev and Reagan were the clear factors that contributed to

There were two famous speeches given at the Berlin wall about freedom, taking down the wall, and bringing East and West Berlin together once again. One of these speeches was president John F. Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech. It was given June 26, 1963. The other speech was Ronald Reagan's address from the Brandenburg Gate. This was given later on June 12, 1987. Reagan's speech was more effect than Kennedy's because it had many good points that Kennedy didn't have, spoke to the Berliners, and Kennedy's speech wasn't enough. It didn't do anything since it was at the beginning of the Cold War. Nobody wanted to listen to Kennedy. They did not tear down the wall. After Reagan's speech they did.

The proposition that ‘the fall of the Berlin Wall was the turning point of the Cold War’ is valid to the extent that the tension between the USSR and the USA became less aggressive and confrontational with the fall of the wall. What the fall of the Berlin Wall signified was a dissolution of the Soviet Union from its previous position of power. It officially disintegrated in 1991. As a result, the once prosperous nation, and the Cold War came to an end. The significance of this was evident with Russia falling into widespread economic depression. With the dissolution of the union and demilitarisation of the army, the Soviet Union was hit with high unemployment. This became a turning point in the relationship between the Soviet Union and the USA in that the crippled USSR lost its position as one of the major powers in Europe. The change in the US-Soviet relationship is evident in the years following the fall of the Berlin Wall, particularly in May- June 1990, where USA and USSR dignitaries discussed financial aid from the Western countries to lift Russia from its economic depression. These discussions fell through due to a change in Russian leadership. However, their very existence validates the proposition that the fall of the Berlin Wall was a turning point in the Cold War, as shown in the superpowers’ later communications of peace and aid.